Cheating The System
by Gamaray
Summary: Helios Acsension. An interdimensional police force who's priority is to keep order in many different dimensions. After finding a dimension with many timelines, they found each timeline connected by a single artifact: The SkullHeart. With no options left, they turn to their youngest recruit. His mission: Leave one timeline remaining, and remove the root of the problem. Permanently.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Skullgirls. Skullgirls belongs to Lab Zero Games. All elements of this story belong to their rightful properties.

 **HA-K3R BIO**

Name: Unknown

ID: K3R

Gender: Male

Age: 16-17

DOB: May 12

Blood Type: O

Height: 5'8

Weight: 137 Ilbs

Likes: Being called 'Hacker', Technology, Meat, Sweet Things, Sleeping, Arcade Games, Jokes, Finishing Things Quickly.

Dislikes: Being called 'K-Three-R', Malicious People, Long Words, Waiting.

Description: Short, jet black, spiked hair, with two neon blue, horn-shaped spikes that are about an inch longer than the hair. Thick ponytail on the back of the head, tied by an unknown material, going down the spine, stopping at the ridge of the back. Same colored neon blue stripe on top of the ponytail ending at a point, like the tail itself. Emerald colored eyes with reptilian like pupils, and plain white irises. Scouter-like device with rectangular green lens worn on the right eye. Wearing a thin cobalt colored tactical vest that seems to hug the chest area, with a black sleeveless shirt underneath it made of some form of breathable materiel. Unknown firearm carried by the hip with a hollister. Firearm has a pistol-like appearance. Cobalt fingerless gloves with leather substance on the palms, presumably for extra support with grasping objects. Navy blue pants with the appearance of jeans, though made with a materiel to not constrict to the body. Black combat boots with the top half covered by the pants.

Backround: Helios Ascension. An interdimensional police force who's main priority is to keep peace and tranquility within many different dimensions, and to eliminate any problems that arise for them as well. After finding a dimension with many different timelines, Helios Ascension looked into the problem and found each timeline connected by a single artifact: The SkullHeart. With all other available agents out on the field, they decided to turn to their youngest recruit, Agent K3R. Even at a young age, K3R managed to prove himself by completing missions that would give even the most seasoned of their veterans a difficult time. Having been given three special devices, tasked with the mission of destroying thirteen timelines, and restoring order to the final fourteenth, Helios Ascension's prodigy will have to fight harder than ever before to destroy the burden plaguing the Canopy Kingdom, once and for all.

 **COMMAND LIST: HA-K3R**

Key:

Hadoken/Hado = Quarter-Circle Forward

Tatsumaki/Tastu = Quarter-Cirlcle Back

Shoryuken/Shoryu = Z-Motion

P = Punch

K = Kick

L = Light

M = Medium

H = Heavy

LP/LK = Grab

 **Skill Thief** = Hado+LP (Allows HA-K3R to copy the last special move used by opponent by scaning them with scouter, and replaces **Skill Thief** with the mentioned move. Vulnerable to any attack until scan is complete.)

 **Rising Tension** = Hado+MP (HA-K3R goes into a concentrated stance and builds up Tension at a moderate rate. Can be cancelled with any attack.)

 **?** = Hado+HP (Information Unavailable)

 **?** = Tatsu+P (Information Unavailable)

 **?** = Hado+K (Information Unavailable)

 **?** = Tatsu+K (Information Unavailable)

 **? (Only available with ?)** = Shoryu+P (Information Unavailable)

 **Action Replay (Lv. 2)** = Hado+PP (Information Unavailable)

 **? (Lv. 2) (Only available with ?)** = Hado+KK (Information Unavailable)

 **? (Lv. 4)** = Full Circle+PP (Information Unavailable)

 **? (Lv. 4) (Only available with ?)** = Full Circle+LP/LK (Information Unavailable)

A/N: This is only a look into what the OC is like. The first chapter will be up soon. One more thing. I've seen lots of stories constantly ask the reader to review their fic every chapter. Luckily for you, this is not one of those fics. However, I will only ask this once. Please, review my story. I'm not forcing you to do it, and you can choose to not review at all. However, it would really help since this is the first fic I've written on this site. So, if you ever have the time, go ahead and leave one. It would make my day.


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Skullgirls. Skullgirls belongs to Lab Zero Games. All elements of this story belong to their rightful properties.

Normal Text = Talking/Normal Moves

 _Italicized Text = Thinking/ Special Moves_

 **Bolded Text = Blockbusters/Super Moves/Communication**

CTS: Chapter 1

Within the Catacombs of the Grand Cathedral, an extraordinary battle had taken place just moments ago. The Skullgirl has been defeated by a very unlikely hero: a cat-like, humanoid robot. However, the current savior of the Canopy Kingdom was contemplating the endless circle of wishing upon the Skull Heart.

"No matter what wish is made, the tradgedy of the Skull Heart will be repeated. Destroying the Skull Heart only resets the seven-year cycle..." the metalic cat-woman said in a dull, robotic tone. Suddenly, she somehow made a Cheshire-like smile. "Luckily, my creator's plans have taken this into account."

"Oh?" questioned the SkullHeart. "Are you sure his flawed, human decision-making won't ruin anything along the way?"

The Robot seemed to hesitate taking any futher action after hearing the heart's statement, thinking about what to do next. Without any warning, it started trembling in place as blue sparks of electricity coursed through its body. "Meowfunction! Meowfunction! Shutting down..." The bot dropped to the floor, powered off and unmoving as smoke wafted through a hole on its back.

"Sorry Robo, nothing personal. But I'll see you again in the next timeline, anyways." Standing directly behind the disabled machine was a young man with black spiked hair, and a long ponytail tied behind his head. He had a cobalt colored vest on, with the depiction of a small golden sun with wings spread out on the front-left, and a large 'HA-K3R' on the back. He also seemed to have had some form of taser, before tossing it aside.

"What!? How DARE you interfere with the matters of The Tri-" Before the Skull Heart could finish, the boy took it and stomped it repeatedly beneath his feet.

"Yeah, yeah. I've already heard the same story before, so save it." He brushed himself off as the aura of the Skull Heart dissipated.

 **"*chrck* Report, K-Three-R! Did you eliminate the targets?"** a deep, gruff voice suddenly seemed to be coming from the scouter on the teenager's, now known as K3R's, right eye.

"Yeah," answered K3R, "it's a shame, too. Robo-Fortune could have ruled the internet with an iron fist."

 **"Now's not the time for messing around."** responded the voice, **"Destroy the timeline, I'll set up a wormhole to the next one."**

"Got it." K3R cut off communication with his comrade. "At least I don't have to kill off any more people. Not counting this." He put his hand to the side of his scouter and pressed a button. A hologram of a large inventory screen blinked to life a few feet away from him. He navigated the screen until the cruisor was over the words "ANTENNA Z". He pressed another button, and the inventory screen faded, replacing it with a device materialized into his hands.

It was a machine roughly the size of a pen, colored red with a skull engraved into it. It had two buttons on it: a large black one, and a medium sized pink one. He pointed the device across the room and pressed the black button. A dark ball of distorted mass shot out of the device and stayed in the air, with a light vaccuming sound being heard from it. K3R put his palm to the side of the scouter, while the pen-sized device dissapeared with an explosion of tiny cyan-colored pixels. "Alright, Havoc. All set."

 **"*chrck* How many times have I told you to not call me that!?"** said the newly named Havoc, annoyed.

"Enough times to make me not care."

 **"Well, stop doing it anyway!"** Immediately after saying that, a blue swirling portal appeared nearby K3R.

"You set it to send me BEFORE the attack on the tower, right?", questioned the young agent.

 **"Yes, just like planned."** , responded Havoc.

"Alright. Here goes nothin'" K3R walked towards the portal and stepped through it. After doing so, the portal closed behind him. During the two's short conversation, the black mass had grown to a massive size, practically filling the entire room, while inhaling many objects within it and tearing apart the walls with it's suction. And it was still growing at an alarming rate.

* * *

It was a lightly cloudy day in New Meridian. Many humans, Dagonians, and Ferals went about their day, while a large blimp slowly and lazily flew over the city. However, no one seemed to notice the large amount of sparks crackling on the rooftops. The sparks intensified until they formed a portal, and K3R stepped out of it. As the portal closed behind him, he carefully took a look around him before nodding to himself. Then, he once again put his palm to the scouter. "I made it."

 **"Good."** answered Havoc, **"Do you remember the protocol for this timeline, K-Three-R?"**

"Hacker." said K3R, "It's. Hacker. K-Three-R is too much work to say. Calling me Hacker is easier."

 **"Answer the question."** responded Havoc, brushing off Hacker's statement.

The newly named Hacker sighed in iritation. "Yes. I have. Don't kill any of the past targets, keep said targets alive, and only eliminate the Skull Heart." As he said this, he navigated through his Inventory and materialized three objects. The first was the red device from before. However, the second was a nearly excact replica of the first device, except it was colored blue, had a circle engraved instead of a skull, and instead of black and pink, it had purple and yellow buttons on it. The third also looked similar to the two, but instead was colored green, had a plus engraved on it, and had only a single white button, unlike its two-buttoned counterparts. "Also, solve any minor problems that come up in between."

 **"Exactly. I've sent you a day and a half before the Skullgirl attacks New Meridian. If you remember correctly, the attack occurs at around 12:30 a.m. tommorow, so that should give you enough time to correct the problems between it. I suggest you warn Lab 8 of the attack on their lab, first."** explained Havoc, while Hacker dismissed the three devices.

 _'Well, because of the amount of time I've spent around here, I know my way around. I can get to Lab 8 in no time. Lucky me.'_ thought Hacker, "Okay. Thanks, Havoc."

 **"For the umpteenth time, it's NOT 'Havoc'!"** yelled Havoc. Hacker reeled back from the volume of his tone, **"You will refer to me as V-Zero-C! That's an order from your superior officer! Show some respect to the people above your rank!"**

"Whatever, nerd." Hacker cut the link between them before Havoc could respond. "One of these days, he's going to make my ears bleed 'cause of his shouting."

Looking up, Hacker overlooked New Meridian from his position on the rooftops. The sun shined down on the streets, bathing many of the buildings and citizens in its warmth. Its rays bounced off the Medici Tower's windows, making it shine and seem like a beacon of light to Helios Ascencion's youngest operative. He grinned at the sight.

With his moral renewed, Hacker dashed as quickly as he could towards The Anti-Skullgirl Labs.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Skullgirls. Skullgirls belongs to Lab Zero Games. All elements of this story belong to their rightful properties.

CTS: Chapter 2

Dr. Avian was currently working in a private section of Lab 8, repairing parts of the Argus System with Project: Peacock in the room. Peacock had already synthesized with the parasite the day before, but there was a slight problem with the direction the eyes shot when firing the Z-Rays. Avian had already readjusted the eyes on the right arm, so now he was dealing with the left. The doctor wiped off a drop of sweat on his eyebrows while finishing with Peacock's left arm, as the cyborg in question was sitting at the other end of the room, watching her shows on a small television.

"Alright, Peacock. I've managed to fix the issue with the aim of the eyes. Here is your arm back." said Avian, as he held out the arm to re-attach it.

Peacock turned away from the TV to look at Avian, then hopped off the chair she was sitting on and walked towards him. "About damn time, doc'! I thought this woulda taken hours!" Peacock sat on the table with her left shoulder facing Avian, anxious to leave after 30 minutes of waiting.

The doctor started putting Peacock's arm back into place. "Now, I may have put the eyes back in position, but I'm not entirely sure if they are fully functional again, so I don't want you using the Argus until we test them in the training room."

"Yeah, eyes, whatever, just hurry up with the arm so I can get back to watchin' Annie." Once her arm had returned to it's rightful place, Peacock open and closed her hand repeatedly to test it and, seeing that it was fine, immediately dashed out of the room. Dr. Avian chuckled to himself after she left.

"Kids these days; They never have the patience for anything..." Suddenly, an alarm started blaring around the room, while a monitor dropped down from the ceiling in front of the doctor. The screen showed a a teenager mostly dressed in blue, strolling through a dimly lit hallway, about 35 yards away from the lab's enterance.

"How in the world did this boy manage to find the passage to the lab...?" Dr. Avian took a device out of his lab coat's pocket and pressed a few buttons before putting it up to his ear. "Big Band!"

" **Yes, doctor?** " responded a deep, silky voice.

"There's someone heading towards the entrance to the lab. I need you to make him leave the area, immediately." Avian said into the device.

" **Understood**." The connection between them cut off with a click. Avian put the device back into his pocket and quickly left the room, thinking about how someone could have found the well-hidden passage to the ASG laboratory.

* * *

Hacker had almost reached the entrance to the lab. He got closer to it by 20 yards between the doctor's conversation.

' _Man, am I hungry. I haven't eaten anything since the last jump. I wonder if the lab's got anything to eat. Heh, maybe they made an ASG weapon that uses food to fight. The people at Lab 8 are overly creative; They made one that uses fricken' band instruments anyway, so it's possible.'_ Just as he thought that, he saw an enormous man wearing a beige fedora and trench coat come out of the entrance. "Well speak of the devil..."

Hacker finally reached the lab's entrance. That is, until the humongous body of Big Band blocked his path. "I'm sorry, young man, but you're not allowed around here. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

Hacker had already been associated with Big Band many times before, but he could never stop himself from making fun of him, right in front of his face.

Hacker looked up at Big Band with his hand on his forehead. "Damn, that's gotta be the biggest Dick I've ever seen in my life!"

"...Excuse me?"

"Y'know; Dick, Gumshoe, Private Eye...?" Hacker said with a shrug.

"I'm not a detective, young man..." responded Big Band

"What!? How could you lie to me like this, my good man?!" Hacker pointed accusingly at his trench coat and fedora. "No kind of self abiding citizen would trick others by wearing such an outfit, unless they were, in fact, a private investigator!"

Big Band started getting frustrated. "Why should you care about what I wear?"

Hacker wiggled his finger at him. "You should think about wearing a different outfit, pal, or else some other guy might think you're a Dick, too."

After this, Big Band started loosing his patience and glared at Hacker, with his eyes turning pure white. "Look kid, I don't have time for games. You better get out of here NOW, or else you're gonna find yourself in some big treble." he threatened, with a part of his mechanical arm peeking out of his coat.

Hacker waved his hands in front of him. "Alright alright, I'll stop now!" he said, then put his hands to his side. "But I can't leave yet."

"And why is that?" questioned Big Band.

"Because I'm here to tell you and your buddies in that lab information about the Skullgirl."

Big Band narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you know about the Skullgirl?"

"Well I'm not going to be able to tell ya if you don't let me inside." responded Hacker.

Big Band glared at him again for a few seconds, checking for any signs of deception, before responding. "This better not be some sort of prank, kid..." Then he turned around and walked back into the lab, his metalic feet rumbling the ground with each step. Because he left the door open, Hacker assumed that Big Band wanted him to follow. So, the boy tailed the one man orchestra, stepping into the shadows of the lab, while the door closed automatically behind them.

* * *

Dr. Avian was at the moment in the main room of Lab 8, wondering why Big Band was taking so long in making the boy leave. Imagine his suprise when he saw Big Band walk in WITH the boy.

"Doctor Avian, we've got a visitor." said Big Band, as Hacker looked around the room with something akin to child-like wonder.

"Big Band, I thought I had told you to make him leave. Why did you let him in?" questioned Dr. Avian.

"Sorry, doc, but this kid says he's got some info on the Skullgirl." responded Big Band, nodding his head towards Hacker.

"Yup. The name's Hacker, and I work for an organization that fixes random crap in different dimensions." added Hacker before the doctor could respond.

Dr. Avian raised an eyebrow. "I... see... but how can we believe that you work for this supposed organization of yours?"

Hacker grinned at this. "Well, I don't know much about the people around here, but I can tell you that the kid with the blonde hair and apron's name is Leduc, and the lady with the pink hair and bee dress is called Hive."

Avian widened his eyes. Considering that the two of them weren't even in the room right now, it wouldn't be possible for Hacker to describe them unless he saw them before. However, before he could ask about it, Hacker continued. "Of course, your name is Dr. Avian..." Then he looked at Big Band. "But YOU I know the second most. 'Big Band', aka Ben Birdland, 49. Used to be a police detective until your 'partners' practically beat you to death, since you weren't as crooked as they are. So, with no other choice besides staying unmoving in a hunk of metal for the rest of your life, you agreed to be experimented on by Lab 8, turned into an Anti-Skullgirl Weapon that uses band instruments to attack, and have been working with them ever since."

To say the two were surprised would be a major understatement. Knowing the names of three individuals that had never met him before is one thing. However, knowing the background of one of their own test subjects, when said test subject rarely tells anyone about his background to begin with, was extraordinarily shocking, especially to Big Band himself.

"...er..." started Dr. Avian, once he regained his bearings. "I... cannot help but notice you said that you knew Big Band the 'second most'... Who, exactly, is the first?"

Hacker chuckled before he answered. "Well that, of course, would-" Before he could finish, someone barged into the room shouting.

"Hey gramps, where'd ya put the remote!? I can't find it any-!" Peacock stopped when she noticed Hacker in the room. "Who's this chump?"

"Name's Hacker, and you must be Peacock." Hacker said with a smirk. "Real name being Patricia Watson, 13 years of age, and originally lived in an orphanage before you and other children were captured by people hired by the Medici Mafia. You stood up against them, thinking that the large number of children could take them, but was punished for it by having your legs broken, arms cut off, teeth pulled out, and eyes ripped out of their sockets, then left for dead. You were fortunate enough to be found by Lab 8's team and remade into an ASG Weapon, with two synthetic parasites attached to you: The Argus System and The Avery Unit. Now, like Big Band, you're working to defeat the Skullgirl every time she pops up now and again." Hacker put a hand to his chin. "At least, you're about to. This is your first time fighting the Skullgirl, actually."

Peacock was indeed, shocked, that he knew so much about her, to the point of knowing her real name. However, she tried her best to not show it in front of them.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW THAT!?"

Key word being 'tried'.

Dr. Avian cleared his throat before he answered her. "This young man says he is a dimension traveler working under an organization that... erm... fixes things."

"Yeah, that and there were different timelines that led to certain people getting the Skull Heart in this dimension, including you two, so I had bios on both of you, and a crap-ton of other people." added Hacker, pressing a few buttons on his scouter, making a screen project itself with Peacock's information on it.

Peacock furrowed her eyebrows when she saw the screen. "Well why didn't ya 'mension that before?" she said before pointing an accusing finger at Hacker. "But what makes you think I'll believe all that timeline baloney!?"

"Well, I can tell you what happened in your timelines." Hacker said, before he pointed at Big Band. "You work with Peacock in order to defeat the Skullgirl and destroy the Skullheart..." then pointing at Peacock "And you, after defeating her on your own, tried to wish for the world's oxygen to turn into chocolate, as well as for the moon to be made of all the cheeses in the world, before both wishes were rejected and you destroyed the Skull Heart anyways." Hacker knew that didn't actually happen, but he knew he wouldn't be as believable if he said that they both destroyed it.

"That does sound like something you would do, kid." Big Band said to Peacock, before she started chuckling.

"Yeah, well, things may have gone great for the both of you, but in both of the timelines, the doctor isn't so lucky." said Hacker, before everyone turned to look at him.

Peacock narrowed her eyes. "What are ya trying to say, bub...?" questioned Peacock, thinking it was a threat on the doctor's life.

"Well, it's pretty much what I came down here to do: to sa" Hacker narrowly missed getting stabbed by _the knife Peacock had attached to her gun_ by jumping backwards out of instinct. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"Shut it! You think I'm gonna sit there and let you flap your mouth after sayin' you're gonna kill Dr. Avian!?" Peacock said, before whistling with her hand. Out of nowhere, an anvil with ridiculously long arms and legs, a walking ton with a ten on it's forehead, and two different sized bombs with the number 8 on their face appeared out of nowhere. "C'mon, boys! We're gonna teach this maroon a lesson for trying to hurt my friends!"

"Calm down, Peacock." started Big Band. "He was just-"

"SQUAWK! Save it, Saxafrass!" said Avery, the bird-like parasite under Peacock's hat. "Peacock's gonna turn this chump into mincemeat, whether ya like it or not!"

"Yeah! Beat'em to a pulp, boss!" added Tommy Ten-Tons.

While Tommy was saying this, Hacker saw both his and Peacock's tension bars appear on his scouter. ' _Well, looks like we're doing this then.'_ he thought, going into a fighting stance.

 _"GO!"_ Peacock starts the fight by _tossing her bomb, George, to the ground, causing it to start walking towards Hacker,_ and then dashed towards him. While she was tossing George, Hacker _scanned her with his scouter for three seconds before the lens flashed_.

 _"GO!"_ Hacker yelled, just as Peacock was in front of him, _tossing an excact copy of George in her face_ , before taking advantage of her shock/confusion and punched her twice. Then, he quickly materialized a knife from his inventory and slashed her before Peacock's George, who he forgot about, blew up beside him.

Peacock used this opportunity by poking him twice, shoving a pie in his face, and stomping the floor, causing a plank to launch Hacker into the air. Peacock followed him into the air, but was too slow, giving Hacker the chance to block her hammer. When they landed, Hacker grabbed Peacock and used his tazing device.

"Cheesy pun about electricity!" Blue sparks traveled through Peacock's body, before Hacker kicked her away. He _went into a stance and concentrated, as his Tension Meter started to rise_ , but he only did this for a few seconds before punching at the air and jumping over _the bullets shot at him_ ,towards Peacock.

"You're not the only one with a gun!" He grabbed his pistol-shaped gun before it exploded in blue pixels, _turning into a sawed off shotgun, and fired,_ sending Peacock halfway across the lab. He followed her as she flew.

"Why I aughta'-!" Seeing her spring back after landing, Hacker jumped up and kneed her in the face, kneed her twice in the stomach when he landed, kicked her across the face, and ended it with a bicycle kick, launching her upwards, before he immediately pointed at her.

 _"Shark!" A shark made of pixels came out of nowhere and bit down on Peacock before dissapearing, launching her higher_. Before she landed, **two cracks of electricity flashed on the lens of Hacker's scouter.**

 **"You know what they say..." Hacker dashed forward in a blur, fast enough to create two afterimages of himself that stood to his left and right. The original Hacker grabbed Peacock, tazed her, and kicked her towards the left afterimage, who kicked her towards the afterimage on the right, who then bicycle kicked her upwards. The original, who jumped up during the left's kick, axe kicked her back to the ground towards the two afterimages, while they were aiming at her landing spot with submachine guns. They shot at her repeatedly, while the original prepared a rocket launcher after he landed. The afterimages stopped firing and dissapeared, leaving Hacker himself aiming the launcher straight in front of Peacock. "The more the merrier!" The blast launched Peacock all the way across the lab.**

Peacock grudgingly got back up. _'Dammit, this guy's tough! I'm gonna have to change up my game if I'm going to beat'em.'_ Peacock took out a whistle from behind her back.

 _"Look out below!" A circle shaped shadow appeared under Hacker while a falling whistle could be heard somewhere unseen._ Hacker immediately tried avoiding the shadow, but it was following him where ever he went. The situation was only made worse by Peacock's _constant shooting and George tosses._

 _'Stop doing that, dammit! I'm gonna'_ Hacker never finished his thought since _a bulldozer fell from the sky and landed on top of him. Everything froze and turned monochrome except Peacock, the dozer and Avery, who was riding it. Avery spread his arms and laughed maniacly, then punched the dozer fifteen times, somehow damaging Hacker. He paused for a second before hitting it a sixteenth time, causing the dozer to collapse, Hacker being launched from under it, and THE WORLD to return to normal._

"Whatever..." Hacker rolled to the side to recover. But just as he was about to stand...

 **"Argus...!" Peacock split open her hat from the top, and a peacock's head, controlled by Avery, had appeared out of it.**

Dr. Avian widened his eyes. "Peacock, no!"

 **"AGONY!" The peacock head fired a laser out of it's beak at Hacker,** who managed to block it in time. **She continued it by quickly summoning more eyes and fired small bursts of lasers repeatedly with them.** Near the end of the Blockbuster, one the eyes loosened and shot in a different direction, firing a stray laser towards the doctor. "Doc!" Peacock, too slow to react, watched in horror as the blast tore through the air and went straight through the doctor's eye. At least, it would have if Hacker didn't appear in front of him and take the blow.

Hacker slowly turned back to Lab 8's lead scientist. "You okay there, pal?" he groaned. His body felt sore after the fight, but he knew it would be fine in a few minutes.

"Yes... Thank you, young man." gasped Dr. Avian. He wasn't aware of the laser coming at him until just before Hacker blocked it. Avian sighed to calm his nerves. "Peacock, I told you not to use the Argus until we were in the training room. This is the kind of thing that happens when you don't listen to what other people tell you."

Peacock scratched the back of her head nervously. "Eheheh... sorry about that, doc."

Big Band, who had been silent all this time, looked at Hacker suspiciously. He saw the laser coming and was about to deflect it himself, but stopped in suprise when he saw Hacker suddenly appear in front of the doctor halfway through the shot and blocked it anyway. _'There's no way he could've been able to stop the laser in time; He was halfway across the lab, and woulda been slowed down by Peacock's shooting.'_ Big Band narrowed his eyes _'Just who the hell is this kid...?'_

"Speaking of listening to people..." Hacker glared at Peacock. "We wouldn't have been in this mess if you actually heard what I had to say."

"Hey, what else was I supposed to think, wiseguy?!" Peacock yelled, glaring back at him. "You sounded like you were gonna kill the doc!"

"Well **I** wasn't going to kill him." Hacker sighed before he continued. "What I was going to say is that the doctor dies in both of your timelines, as well as a few other, and it might happen in this one, too."

"What!?" Peacock exclaimed in rage. "There's no WAY I'm gonna let the doc die so easy!"

"Maybe you're right. The reason why Dr. Avian dies is because Valentine turns traitor against the Labs and lets the Skullgirl in. She destroys all of the machines and research the lab has done, as well as Avian. Everyone else was lucky enough to escape from the lab in time." Hacker put a hand to his chin. "But maybe, now that you know this, you'll be able to protect the lab against her and keep the doctor alive. The attack doesn't happen until tomorrow afternoon."

"I knew that woman would cause trouble someday..." muttered Big Band.

"Tomorrow afternoon, you say?" asked Dr. Avian. "We might not be able to defend the lab against the Skullgirl with only Big Band. I'd need time in order to complete Peacock. In the meantime, we need to move our research and the members of the lab to a safer location, so that if she manages to get in, they doesn't get destroyed along with it."

"Well ya better hurry up and start fixing me up, gramps." said Peacock. "The sooner I can take down the Skullgirl, the better!"

 _'Well, she's gonna be in for a shock when she sees who it is. Like the last few times.'_ thought Hacker. "Anyways, my job here is done. I told you what I know, so it's up to you what happens next. I've got other problems to deal with."

Dr. Avian nodded. "Thank you, young man. We are in your debt. If there is anything you ever need from us, let us know."

Hacker was about to decline his offer, until his stomach growled obnoxiously at that moment. "Well... there IS one thing..."

* * *

 **COMMAND LIST: HA-K3R (Updated)**

 **Morphin' Ranger** = Tatsu+P (HA-K3R's pistol transforms into a different firearm entirely depending on which button is pressed: L-Shotgun [Fast Startup, Low Power], M-Sniper Rifle [Medium Startup, Medium Power], and H-Rocket Launcher [Slow Startup, High Power])

 **Trojan Army** = Hado+K (Allows HA-K3R to summon one of his three "animal" companions: L-[Hunter] A dog runs down the opponent by tripping them up from underneath, M-[Equalizer] A horse gallops towards the opponent and hits them overhead while jumping over them, H-[GameShark] A shark seemingly jumps out of the ground and bites down on the opponent {when they're in the air})

 **Action Replay (Lv. 2)** = Hado+PP (HA-K3R moves fast enough in a short amount of time to create physical afterimages of himself, and works with them to give the opponent a devastating combo)


End file.
